Christian strategy group convenes for Memorial Day

Bringing with it a suitably euphemistic and presumptive title, the American Religious Freedom Program (ARFP) has brought together Christian leaders intent on enshrining special privileges for Christianity in US law and government. While inviting complicit Jewish leaders and avoiding too much mention of Christianity, the intent was clear. In the tradition of the Liberty Legal, Alliance Defense, American Center for Law and Justice, the National Day of Prayer, and AFRP’s own parent the Ethics and Public Policy Center, AFRP promotes exclusively fundamentalist Christian rights and privileges while pretending to American liberties and true religious freedoms.

AFRP held its second conference on May 24th featuring five sessions with growing concern for the shrinking power of Christians to push their agenda in government with impunity. The fifth session was of primary importance to the military. Chris Lombardi, Government Relations Manager for the Secular Coalition for America, attended the event. The session was presumably focused on “defending religious diversity and freedom” but instead focused on fear about gays in the military. The speakers were particularly concerned with chaplains’ freedom to question DoD policy on gays serving after the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, worrying about gays marrying on military installations, and worrying about gays. “Religious Freedom” seemed to be limited to a very specific kind of freedom.

Hrafnkell Haraldsson of politicsusa titles his article on this Conference “Religious Bigots Gather” and reports these leaders are “taking advantage of our liberal tolerance to push their intolerant agenda.”

The five sessions of the Conference were titled (paraphrased) “shredding the fabric” of freedom, “unprecedented threats” to freedom, “uniting to preserve” freedom, constraining “overreaching” officials. and defending freedom for veterans. This whitewash of secular values should not distract from the markedly sectarian focus of the event. Of more than 20 panelists, nearly all represented extreme fundamentalist Christian views, with three Jewish panelists. William Galston of the Brookings Institute seemed to be the only attempt at diversity in the event.

Speaking at the military session were Ron Crews, Executive Director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty representing fundamentalist Christian chaplains, Kelly Shackelford, CEO of the evangelical Christian Liberty Institute, Orthodox Jewish Chaplain and Colonel Jacob Goldstein, and Matthew Franck, program director at the similarly-biased Witherspoon Institute. The headline of the panel was recently-retired Chief of Chaplains of the Army Major General (Retired) Douglas Carver. While the retired general can do what he likes, it seems he is most interested in promoting Christianity in the military.

Organizations wishing to discuss religious freedom and freedom of conscience within the military should seek some diversity of thought on their panels. The Forum is an organization of chaplains supporting open service for gays in the military. Interfaith Alliance and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State have strong records supporting Constitutional Freedoms and religious liberty for all. Organizations like the Alliance of Baptists and the Coalition of Spirit-Filled Churches are evangelical Christian organizations with a commitment to religious liberty. Inviting diversity in the discussion will illuminate issues, work toward resolution, and avoid the unnecessary worries many Christians have about their freedoms.

Liberty Institute promotes its successes in securing Christian privilege to put crosses on federal land, evangelize at public school functions, and even to evangelize grieving families at veteran funerals.

The Witherspoon Institute is an independent research center that works to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies. The Institute has recently published works defending heterosexual-only marriage, defining life from conception, and a work entitled calling religious freedom an “embattled human right”.

2 Responses to Christian strategy group convenes for Memorial Day

So what does this article actually say other than that the author is angry because a religious group convened to discuss religious issues in the military? He mentions some talk about their concern over homosexuality, but other than this does nothing other than rant on how Christians are over represented in the chaplaincy, etc.

Agreed. This group had every right to meet and discuss policy. This article is not an objection to legality, this is an objection to the substance of the meeting (as well as the misleading title of the event and organizations). They have the right to meet, and MAAF has posted a scathing critique of their legal, free, and open discussion.

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